Donors, including Bezos, Ballmer and Allen families, give $20 million for coronavirus research [View all]

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Donors, including Bezos, Ballmer and Allen families, give $20 million for coronavirus testing, research at UW

By Sandi Doughton, The Seattle Times
Published: April 7, 2020, 10:56am

A who’s-who of wealthy people and foundations with ties to the Pacific Northwest — along with more than 3,000 individual donors — have given more than $20 million to boost UW Medicine’s coronavirus testing and research.

The biggest single gift is $10 million from former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie. Announced previously, the money will be used to increase capacity at the UW Virology lab, which has processed about 70% of all tests in Washington for the new coronavirus. The lab has been handling about 2,000 specimens a day and plans to ramp up to more than 5,000 daily by the end of this week, providing results to patients in six to 24 hours.

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